וירדו הם. הטעם כאשר ירדו נסתמה הארץ ולא נראו: SO THEY…WENT DOWN. Its meaning is: when they went down, the earth closed and they were not seen.83Prima facie, this verse repeats verse 32. Hence I.E.’s comment.
ותכס עליהם. הארץ בעצמה: AND THE EARTH CLOSED UPON THEM. The earth itself.84The verb va-tekhas (and closed upon then) literally means and covered. Our clause thus reads, and the earth covered them. Hence va-yekhas may be taken as transitive. In this case, it means that the earth covered them with something. Hence I.E. points out that va-yekhas is intransitive.
ויאבדו. בעבור מות בניהם העומדים תחתם: AND THEY PERISHED. For their children who were to take their place died.85One who dies without descendants perishes from the face of the earth.